The DAR was founded in 1890 with the mission of promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism. DAR members are women who come from diverse backgrounds and hold a variety of interest. Their common bond is their lineal descent from Patriots of the American Revolution. Anyone interested in membership please contact the Regent or Registrar.

      The Fort Cooper Chapter celebrated our ninth year anniversary this past April and we are greatly anticipating our 10th year celebration. The Chapter continues to work towards the three objectives of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution: Historic Preservation, Education and Patriotism. We have grown in our membership from 77 Charter Members in 2007 to over 160 current members. We have several third and fourth generation members of whom we are proud. The Chapter has won awards and recognition at both National and State levels.

Historical Preservation
This past year the Chapter placed a historical marker at Fort Cooper State Park, our namesake. We are working hard on placing our next maker at the historical Duval House in Floral City. We have many members working on preserving historical DAR documents, genealogy records preservation, and documenting Family Bible Records. We support the DAR Museum and DAR Library and we supported the preservation of the War of 1812 Pensions, just to mention a few.

Education
This was a very special year for Fort Cooper Chapter DAR – In 2011, we began our scholarship program with a $250 award to a young lady from Crystal River H.S., followed in 2012 and 2013 with $500 awards; In 2014 we were excited to be able to award two $500 scholarships, and last year we achieved our goal of a $1,000 award. We were thrilled to be able this year to provide two $1000 awards. To date Fort Cooper chapter has awarded $5,250 to eight deserving young women in Citrus County. Furthermore, Florida State Society DAR has given $5,000 to eight applicants our chapter has sponsored. That is a total of $10,250 in support of sixteen young women from Citrus County. The Chapter supports the six DAR Schools: Kate Duncan Smith School, Tamassee, Berry College, Crossmore School, Hillside School and Hindman Settlement School. Each of these schools is given financial assistance by members, material donations and a genuine personal interest.

Patriotism
We partnered with the 50th Vietnam War Commemoration Anniversary in thanking the men and women who fought in this war. The Chapter acknowledged outstanding JROTC Cadets at three local high schools and recognized several outstanding Sea Cadets and Civil Air Patrol Cadets. We are active in the Welcome Home Ceremonies for returning soldiers, Honor Flight, Wreaths Across America and Flags For Fallen Veterans. We celebrate Flag Day and Constitution Week. We are active in recognizing newly naturalized citizens. We are proud to have been a part of the DAR setting a new Guinness World Record by sending more than 100,000, letters to military personnel serving overseas collected in one month this past June.

Katherine Van Fleet Echlin, Regent